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Home→Bicycling News→Texas Bicycling News Digest March 20th 2016

Texas Bicycling News Digest March 20th 2016

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Amid cycling boom, penalties for errant drivers remain light

by Scott Mcfetridge www.mysanantonio.com


DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — When Iowa’s largest city joined the boom in urban cycling, work crews painted more bike lanes, erected traffic signals especially for cyclists and installed rental bikes at self-service stands that catered to commuters and tourists alike.
In Des Moines and scores of other U.S. cities, the efforts drew bike riders onto busy streets that were once the sole province of cars and trucks. The changes also heightened the risk of serious collisions like the one that threw Ken Sherman from his bicycle with such force that his body tore off the vehicle’s side mirror.
Cyclists are frustrated that the growing support for two-wheeled transportation has only rarely led to tougher penalties for drivers who hit bikes, many of whom are never ticketed or receive only minor citations, even in accidents that …

Battleground Bike Ride

roundtown.com

Sat, Apr 2 at 9am – 11am
Spring has sprung at the San Jacinto Battleground! Come celebrate the lovely weather and honor the memory of the Texas Revolution by taking a guided bicycle tour around the battleground. The group will bicycle to various locations within the park and stop to discuss the events that occurred at each site before heading to the next area. This is both a bicycle ride and a guided battleground tour–all rolled into one.
Meeting Location: The group will gather and meet the ranger by the flag poles at the parking lot on the west side of the San Jacinto monument.
Distance: Just under 5 miles.
Time: This program will take an estimated 2 hours.
Difficulty: Easy. We will be bicycling on paved roadway. Most of the route is flat with only two small hills.
Age and Experience: All ages are welcome. Bicycling experience is a plus but not required. Beginners are welcome. The ranger will provide a short safety check and bicycling tutorial before the start of the battleground tour.

Great turnout for bike ride to celebrate opening of new segment of Grand Parkway

www.yourhoustonnews.com


Over 1,000 bike riders of all experience levels took the opportunity to be the first to utilize the newest segment of the Grand Parkway during a bike ride held Saturday. Segment G runs between I-45 North Freeway and US 59/ I-69 Eastex Freeway.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) teamed up with Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders ZOPB), the United Methodist Church, and the YMCA to commemorate the opening before vehicular traffic is …

Riders brave elements to share love for cycling at Riverside Ride

By BY TONY TSOUKALAS www.victoriaadvocate.com


Lee Keeling’s love for cycling started on a stationary bike at DeTar Health and Fitness Center.
That was 10 years and nearly 90 pounds ago.
Keeling, 56, said he first got into the sport while working out during his son Powell’s basketball practices. Saturday, he participated in the Eighth Annual Riverside Ride, battling strong winds to finish the event’s 100-mile route in roughly 5 hours and 45 minutes.
“I started taking a spin class, and I really liked it,” Keeling said. “I thought to myself, ‘It’d be really cool to get on a …

Tour de Houston

www.yourhoustonnews.com


Cyclists make their way to the end stop at the Kingwood Community Center before heading back toward city of Houston City Hall during the Tour de Houston bike ride Sunday, March 20, 2016. The ride, sponsored by Apache, included Kingwood for the first time in the annual ride. The ride to Kingwood was used by many as training for the upcoming BP MS 150 since it was a 70-mile ride. …

Bike share program may be on its way to Harlingen

By RICK KELLEY www.valleymorningstar.com


HARLINGEN — Ladies and gentlemen, abandon your engines.
A proposal for a bike-share program in the city has been approved by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and now awaits an up-or-down vote from the City Commission.
The plan is to lease 20 commuter bicycles in partnership with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and place bike racks at two locations — the Regional Academic Health Center on campus and McKelvey Park.
Bike-sharing is a rapidly growing innovation in urban transportation. It allows people who have an account to use utility bikes to get from Point A to Point B. The bikes …

Escaping Winter : The Other Half of the Southern Tier

By Zandra Bainas and Steve Marsh www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 20 – Plain View Lakes to Van Horn: Tail Wind! (Lots of photos)
Monday March 14, 2016, 145 km (90 miles) – Total so far: 1,734 km (1,077 miles)
Zandra woke up this morning a bit unhappy. Those sun cracked lips of hers have developed the ugliest set of cold sores she has ever had, and she ran out of Abbreva (favoured cold sore med) last night. We will have to look for more along the route today, as apparently we are going through small towns marked “full service” on the ACA map. Should be pretty easy – it’s an over the counter med that even the convenience stores carry back home.
Denny rolls by already packed up as we are tearing down our tent, and we chat some more. He is interested in what direction we plan to go in the next couple of days – over the Davis Mountains by the McDonald Observatory, or by the flatter Marfa route (a common alternate choice for cyclists but not on the route maps). We haven’t quite decided yet, as we want to judge the wind direction from Van Horn, but we would prefer to go by the Observatory and …

An Englishman in America

By Rob Lee www.crazyguyonabike.com

Mar 19: Around Austin
Saturday March 19, 2016, 31 miles (50 km) – Total so far: 1,971 miles (3,172 km)
Posted via email Sun Mar 20 18:39:02 2016 PDT
The shortest distance day of the trip so far! Which I think is fair enough as today was supposed to be kind of a rest day.
Waking at Emma Long Park, last night’s storm had long been and gone leaving a clear and cool morning. I arranged to meet Bruce a few miles from the park at noon. That gave me a(nother) leisurely morning to sort a few things out. I could also enjoy the hilly but scenic cycle out from the park at a slow pace.
I made it to the end of the park access road around half an hour early. Serendipitously there was a Mexican food stand there so I ordered a second breakfast/early lunch of a burrito. Good but on the small side!
Meeting up with Bruce he led me back to his house so I could leave my luggage and come up with a plan for the rest of the day. Without realising it I had ended up in Austin while South by Southwest (SXSW) was on – this is the final weekend. So it seemed a bit of a no-brainer to head into town and take in some of that.
On the way into town I experienced arguably the biggest mechanical issue of the trip so …

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